Warriors keep building momentum

MARTINSVILLE — Whiteland kept up its impressive run of games Friday — emphasis on run — as the Warriors rushed for 433 yards to take an easy 42-17 win against Martinsville.

It was a night of streaks for the Warriors as they won their third straight game. It was also Whiteland’s fourth straight win against Martinsville and fourth straight time the Warriors put 40 or more points on the Artesians.

Another bonus was the Warriors spoiled the Artesians’ homecoming.

“We wanted to climb back in the conference,” said Whiteland coach Darrin Fisher. “We know we will need some teams to lose, but we have to worry about ourselves first.”

Winless Martinsville turned out to be the remedy for Whiteland — not that the Warriors needed any fixing. But for getting themselves back to .500 with a 3-3 record, and more importantly, keeping the Warriors’ Mid-State Conference chances alive at 2-1, Martinsville seemed to be the perfect host.

Fisher used several runners to confuse the Artesian defense. Junior Ryan Hammond led the Warriors with 174 yards and a touchdown.

Senior Edwin Cisneros also broke 100 yards, gaining 139 and scoring three touchdowns for Whiteland. Levi Parks and Evan Hillman also scored for the Warriors.

“Tonight was a great team win,” said Fisher. “We had a lot of people contribute to this. We’ve practiced well, and we have played well.”

The defense was equally as impressive for the Warriors, despite giving up 213 yards passing at the hands of quarterback Jon Collier.

Late in the second quarter, Martinsville drove to the Warriors’ 1-yard line, but Whiteland’s defense stayed tough, and after a penalty, all the Artesians could muster was a 20-yard field goal.

That proved large later on as the Artesians’ passing opened up even more. Collier threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter.

“They are scary good at scrambling and throwing deep,” Fisher said. “We did a good job on them with our defense. We also were wanting to get some long drives in on offense, and we did that.

“Our sweep was effective.”

With such a powerful effort on the ground, the Warriors didn’t bother themselves with a passing attack. Whiteland only threw the ball twice all night.

Martinsville fell to 0-6 and has now lost 17 straight dating back to 2014.

Up next for the Warriors is another tough conference tilt as they host Mooresville.